Review: Long Shot (Last Shot #3) by Kelly Jamieson

A haunted beauty inspires a Navy SEAL turned playboy bar owner to change his ways in this tender and sensual novel from the bestselling author of Hot Shot and the Heller Brothers series.

Waitressing at a tequila bar on the beach in sunny San Diego may not be what Reece Kirkwell wants to do forever, but for now it’s perfect—other than the flashbacks to the tragedy she caused in Boston. And the fact that one of her bosses is a domineering, first-class manwhore who’s as stubborn as he is sexy. If he’d just listen to her, she could double his business. But it would also mean getting close to someone, and that’s a risk she can’t afford.

Cade Hardy’s partners at Conquistadors are like his brothers, but he’s the money man trying to keep them all afloat. To blow off steam, he’s been sleeping around a little. The last thing he needs is business advice from their crazy-hot new waitress. Cade can’t figure Reece out. She’s smarter than she lets on, and she doesn’t hide her disgust for his active sex life. But after he recognizes her PTSD symptoms, Cade is determined to save her . . . unless she saves him first.

I received this book for free from the Publisher or Author in exchange for an honest review, or I purchased it with my own funds. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This is the third in a trilogy, and I had no problems reading it as a standalone novel.

While I enjoyed Long Shot, there were a few things that proved problematic for me. I didn’t feel as though Cade (the hero) was really well-defined. What I did learn of his background was info-dumped on me, and I felt disconnected from it. He was kind of an ass, and his simmering anger towards Reece (the heroine) in the beginning of the novel really threw me off. Even after finishing the book, I still can’t understand what his issue was, though it was eventually explained as control issues (he wanted to control the decisions within his bar, and she challenged him on that). For me, it’s a red flag in a relationship — if you can’t be professional in a professional setting, then WHY would you want to take the relationship anywhere outside of work? I don’t get it.

Reece went through a crazy traumatic experience, which is revealed late in the book, and it explains much of why she was living the way she was. I found myself scratching my head as to her actions, and when The Big Reveal came, I again felt disconnected from it. In retrospect, I can see why she acted the way she did throughout the novel, but really, her past could’ve – and probably should’ve – been revealed to the reader much earlier. I think that knowing her PTSD issues, then seeing Cade in action with those issues prior to his knowing what she went through, would’ve gone a long way toward me falling in love with him.

As I’d never read the other books in the series, I felt that the secondary characters were completely flat. I still couldn’t tell you which guy was which, nor who that guy was married to…and they each, apparently, have their own book in the series. I’m completely uninterested in reading those stories because they played such an insignificant role in this book. I would’ve LOVED to see the bromance between these guys! What good is making your main character a former SEAL if we can’t see the bonds forged with others through that experience?

The sex scenes were plenty hot, though, which saved this book for me. The plot was a good one, and the story held a lot of promise that it didn’t quite live up to. By the end, I wasn’t rooting for the couple, per se, but I wasn’t rooting against them, either. It was an entertaining way to pass a couple of hours, but I didn’t feel any angst, stomach flutters, or chest pains.